Yi Junhao asked Lanxiang, "What I want to ask you is this painting of a blue fox and a butterfly. Do you know where this painting came from and who painted it? Are there many paintings like this in Wanjiao Pavilion? It seems that I have also seen the same blue fox and butterfly painting in the next room?"

"The same? Could it be that you also think these two paintings are the same?" Lanxiang asked in confusion.

Yi Junhao had already noticed the difference, but he still pretended to ask, "Isn't that right? What about what Miss Lanxiang knows?"

Lanxiang smiled, raising her eyebrows with a hint of pride and smugness, and then said leisurely, "This lifelike and exquisite painting of a blue fox and butterfly is a well-known masterpiece in Wanjiao Pavilion, but it's not something everyone is qualified to possess. To be honest, there are probably only two such paintings in the world. The one you saw before, the one hanging next door, is the original, while the one in Lanxiang's room is merely a copy made by the madam of Wanjiao Pavilion. How about it, isn't it quite impressive?"

Upon hearing this, Yi Junhao immediately thought to himself, "Just as I thought."

But after a slight hesitation, he looked up at her and asked, "Oh? Is that so? I really didn't expect that Wanjiao Pavilion would be so full of hidden talents. Even the madam here is quite talented. But I wonder what her background is? Her painting skills are so high. Moreover, it seems that the painting was made with the finest rock pigments that only the royal family of Nan'an Kingdom is qualified to use. Could it be that the madam is a person of noble status from Nan'an Kingdom?"

Lanxiang was instantly astonished by Yi Junhao's conjecture. She never expected that someone in this world could see even such things. "Young master, what you say is both right and wrong. The madam is not someone with superb painting skills. She simply obtained that original painting from somewhere, but she treated it as if it were a priceless treasure. From then on, she seemed to be possessed, spending her days and nights, whenever she had free time, locking herself in her room to obsessively copy this painting of a blue fox and butterfly. But in the end, she only left behind this one satisfactory work. The guests, girls, and servants in Wanjiao Pavilion all follow the crowd, loving the painting because of its lifelike and mysterious beauty. They consider it an honor to own this work by the madam herself, and many guests are even willing to spend a lot of money to buy it. But the madam has never intended to sell it. Otherwise, she could really make a fortune!"

Lanxiang paused for a moment, seemingly feeling a little regretful, and then said, "As for where that madam came from, Lanxiang has no idea. Lanxiang only once overheard her saying that her hometown was not in Xiqin, but in Nan'an."

Upon hearing this, Yi Junhao's eyes immediately widened in surprise.

Although medicine was prevalent in the ancient Nan'an Kingdom, it also gave rise to many evil witchcraft practices.

Although the imperial court in Nan'an repeatedly issued prohibitions, these people always managed to use mysterious methods to deceive the people. Local authorities were frequently coerced and bribed by them, paying lip service while secretly disobeying.

However, the Ice Beauty, the most yin and poisonous creature in the world, who is said to live in a corner of the northern land beyond the Lingkong in this painting, is someone that many people keep at a distance from, even though they love her, she is a poison that can only be admired from afar and not touched.

This is because the Ice Beauty doesn't just exist in legends; its habitat is a vast, endless, frigid glacier-filled land where nothing grows—an extremely harsh environment. Naturally, almost no one has ever actually seen one, let alone possessed one.

Moreover, the poisons created by the Ice Beauty are not only extremely yin and potent, but also incurable in the world. If used to concoct poison gu, they would be even more bizarre and malevolent.

However, although this Ice Beauty was a rare beauty whom all the poison masters in Nan'an Kingdom respected and kept at a distance, loving but unable to obtain, any poison master with the most superior poison skills still knew and was familiar with the Ice Beauty's uses and methods of making poisons.

At this moment, based on what Lanxiang had just said, the madam of Wanjiao Pavilion could now be completely certain that she was a person from Nan'an Kingdom.

Judging from the content of the painting "Blue Fox and Butterfly" and the extent of the madam's obsession and love for it, as described by Lanxiang, Yi Junhao was also certain that the madam's special fondness for this painting was not genuine; she must be a poison master from the Southern Kingdom, possessing the most superior poison techniques.

At this moment, Yi Junhao suddenly sighed, his gaze becoming extremely distant. For some reason, he suddenly thought of his first wet nurse when he was a child.

His first wet nurse was a gentle, beautiful young woman who took meticulous care of him and regarded him as her own daughter.

But while he was still young and just learning to speak, his wet nurse was accused of using extremely evil witchcraft against Yi Junhao's mother in the palace of Nan'an Kingdom.

The wet nurse claimed innocence, but the soldiers found irrefutable evidence in her room.

She also believed that someone had deliberately framed her and wanted the King of Nan'an to find out the truth and clear her name. While she was hesitating, Yi Junhao's mother came out and took the initiative to plead with the King for mercy, so the wet nurse was not sentenced to death, but was instead ordered by her father to be permanently banished from the territory of Nan'an and never be allowed to return to the country.

And from then on, there was truly no further news...

Just as Yi Junhao was lost in deep thought, Lanxiang suddenly seemed to remember something with a hint of suspicion. "Actually, thinking about it carefully, our madam is really quite amazing. She seems to know medicine as well?"

Upon hearing this, Yi Junhao quickly came to his senses and asked, "Oh, what do you mean?"

Lanxiang recalled for a moment and said mysteriously, "Lanxiang often saw the madam write out her own prescriptions and decoct the medicine herself, as if she was extremely familiar with the medicine."

Yi Junhao asked curiously, "Oh? She can prescribe medicine, and she does it often? Does she take it herself? She's already so strong and robust, does she still need to take medicine so often?"

Lanxiang immediately covered her nose and chuckled softly, saying, "No, at first Lanxiang also thought it was some tonics the madam prescribed for herself. But, one time Lanxiang accidentally saw it, and it turns out these medicines were all for..."

Lanxiang suddenly stopped speaking, as if she realized that she had said something she shouldn't have.

Then, changing her mind, she continued, "Oh dear, look at Lanxiang's loose tongue. These are all matters of the bedroom between the girls in our Wanjiao Pavilion. Young master, you don't need to know the details."

As soon as Lanxiang finished speaking, she lowered her head, looking regretful. She thought to herself, "That was close; I almost let it slip."

Upon hearing this, Yi Junhao naturally lost all interest in prying into the bedroom affairs of these women of the night, and he didn't think about it any further, except that he was even more certain of his earlier guess.

It seems he'll have to find some time to properly meet this mysterious madam of Wanjiao Pavilion, who forces women into prostitution all day long, is kind-hearted and plump yet deeply secretive and seemingly far from simple. How exactly did she rise from a top-tier poison master in Nan'an Kingdom to become the madam of the most famous brothel in Xiqin Kingdom?

Then, he suddenly thought of Yi Shangyun again. He turned to look at the sky outside the window; perhaps she was already resting in Ruyi Residence, waiting for him.

So he quickly came to his senses and said to Lanxiang, "Alright, it's getting late, I'll go back and rest now. If there's anything I need to ask you in the future, I hope you won't hesitate to teach me."

However, Lanxiang hurriedly declined, saying, "Young master, Lanxiang has really told you everything she knows, and there is nothing else." She didn't want to be entangled with anyone.

However, Yi Junhao didn't think so. He just gave her a strange smile, then turned and walked out without looking back...

"Knock knock knock," just as Yi Junhao stepped out, another soft knock came at the door.

Upon hearing the sound, Lanxiang quickly walked out of the inner room toward the door, looking extremely annoyed.

With a creak, the door opened slightly, and Lanxiang's impatient voice rang out, "What's wrong with you? Didn't I already tell you everything I know? Why are you still sticking to me like a leech? If you keep haunting me, I'm really going to go find the madam to deal with you. This is Wanjiao Pavilion, after all. Dealing with unreasonable customers like you is..."

"Yan Hong, it's you?" Lan Xiang opened the door and looked up to find that the person knocking was not Yi Junhao, who had just left, but a new girl who had joined Wan Jiao Pavilion—Yan Hong.

Lanxiang was taken aback for a moment, then reached out and quickly pulled her inside. "Come in quickly, what brings you here?"

After gently closing the door, she turned around and noticed that Yan Hong's eyes were red and swollen, as if she had just been crying.

After a moment's thought, Lanxiang pulled Yanhong to sit down at the table, poured her a cup of hot tea, and asked with concern, "Did you just cry again? Did the madam give you a hard time again?"

Yan Hong gently reached out and accepted the hot tea. Upon hearing Lan Xiang's words of comfort, she immediately began to sniffle, sounding quite aggrieved. "Sister Xiang'er, I really can't take this constant fear and anxiety anymore. Just now, you left with that veiled guest, and the madam immediately gave me another masked guest who came with him. I definitely won't be able to endure this long life ahead. Perhaps… I should just die, while my body is still clean. Waaah… waaah… waaah…"

As soon as she finished speaking, she began to shout even louder, more heartbroken.

"Shh!" Upon seeing this, Lanxiang immediately raised a slender finger and pressed it to her red lips, signaling her to speak softly.

Yan Hong immediately lowered her sobs. Lan Xiang looked at her pitiful appearance with tears streaming down her face and sighed deeply, her heart filled with endless sorrow and helplessness.

The two remained silent for a long while. When Yan Hong calmed down a bit, Lan Xiang finally spoke up, saying, "The easiest thing in this world is death. But can death really solve everything? How did you, a pampered young lady from a wealthy family, fall into prostitution..."